Traces of Nostalgia
by Shelly Lane
Summary: I had so much fun writing about Basil's childhood that I had to write about Dawson's. Names not of movie characters are names of siblings. Very brief references to Aesop's fables, Dracula, Jekyll and Hyde, and Night of the Living Dead. Last chapter takes place right before the final scene of the movie (when the Flavershams leave Basil's home). I own nothing.
1. Lessons About Healthcare

**Lessons About Healthcare**

Lenora cringed. "_RATS!_"

"Is there a problem?" Daniel asked kindly, helping her to her feet.

"You saw what happened!" she retorted. "I tripped!"

Simon frowned. "I understand that you're in pain, but you really shouldn't use four-letter words."

"You mean 'rats'? But I learned the word from you."

My brother blushed. "Please don't tell Mother!"

"I won't if you won't."

"Fair enough."

Daniel changed the subject. "Are you hurt, Lenora?"

She sighed. "I'll be fine as long as David doesn't find out! Irritating, parasitic…!"

"You ought not speak that way about your own brother." Daniel smiled. "You know David's just trying to be helpful."

"I need neither his help nor your morality!" Lenora snapped.

My three siblings walked inside.

"Are you alright?" I asked Lenora. "Did you twist an ankle or skin a knee? Do you need me to get anything for you?"

She glared at me. "David, shut your mouth! I'm not in the mood to deal with your Hippocratic nonsense right now!"

"Aren't you being a bit harsh?" Daniel crossed his arms. "You know he means well."

"I don't care! When he grows up, other mice will pay him large sums of money to torture them, but until then, the best way he can help is by staying out of everyone's way!"

Simon motioned for me to come closer. "You're right, David. She could use some help. Why don't you make her some special tea that will ease the pain?"

"How do I do that?" I asked.

"Well, you take all the weeds from the garden, and you throw them in cold water. After you've let them soak for a few minutes, you take the weeds out and mix soil into the water until it's really thick. Then you pour a generous amount into the tea."

"I don't understand the medical science behind that," I confessed. "How exactly does it work?"

"I'm not sure, David, but Hippocrates did it all the time! His patients would beg for his special tea to help them feel better!"

"Well, alright. If you're sure it will work…"

"Absolutely!"

I accidentally ruined Mother's finest roses and pulled up some tulips by accident when I was trying to get the weeds, which I soaked in a puddle I found near the street. After a while, I removed the weeds and mixed in the soil. When I thought the mud was thick enough, I carried some inside and dropped it into a teacup. Finding the teapot ready, I brought my sister some chamomile.

When she took the first sip, I thought she was going to explode.

"David! Why did you put mud in my tea?!" she demanded.

"Simon said it would help you feel better," I explained.

Without another word, Lenora began beating Simon with a broom.

"Mercy!" he pleaded. "I didn't think David would be stupid enough to do it! Could you stop hitting me?!"

"He tried to poison me, and it's your fault, you idiot!" Lenora shrieked.

She paused the broom midair when Mother entered the front door with Meta and Corine, our younger siblings, who had accompanied her on an errand.

Mother stood akimbo. "Explain yourselves at once!"

She didn't care for any of our explanations. Simon got a rant about deceiving his younger brother, and Mother had a harangue for Lenora about proper manners and how fighting was wrong. My lecture was about how I knew better than to dig up the garden, and I was far too young to be concerned with anyone's health.

We all apologized and promised not to do our respective misdeeds again. However, I sincerely doubted that Simon was sorry. For the rest of the day, he often chuckled under his breath, no doubt recalling Lenora's face when she drank the mud.

"Cheer up!" Daniel told me. "Mother says I can take you to the library after lunch. You'll like that, won't you?"

I nodded. I loved the library. It was a great place to find information about the latest discovery in medical science. However, I also enjoyed fictitious works, such as novels about thrilling adventures. On this visit, I found a section of the library I hadn't noticed before.

"What are these books?" I queried.

"Biographies," my brother replied. "These are true stories about the lives of famous rodents." After a pause, he added, "Do you think you would like to try writing someone's biography someday?"

"It sounds like a lot of work," I responded.

"I'm sure you could handle it, David."

"Why are you so kind to me, Daniel? Our other siblings hate me."

"They don't hate you," he clarified. "You just annoy them with the constant medical advice. As for why I try not to be unkind to you, it may happen that in the future, I am your patient, and if that ever comes to pass, I want to be in the hands of a doctor who holds no grudge against me."

I laughed at his joke.

"How are you going to do it, David?" he queried. "I know you want to help others, but I just don't know if you'll be able to handle the job."

"What do you mean?"

"How will you be able to stand hearing screams of torment as you watch others writhe in agony, knowing you may have to cause them more pain before they start feeling better? How will you keep your composure when someone begs you to help their sick infant? What will you do when you lose a patient?" He sighed. "I've got a lot of respect for physicians, but I don't know how they deal with the problems of their jobs."

I made no reply.

"It must be hard when a patient refuses help," he continued. "According to the law, someone may be dying, but if the victim is in his or her right state of mind and turns down medical help, there's nothing a doctor can do about it. Imagine a mouse bleeding to death before your eyes, and you know you could save his life, but he keeps refusing to let you within ten feet of him."

"It would be awful," I responded.

"I'm not trying to discourage your dreams, and I'm sure if you decide you still want to be a physician, you'll be a fine one. I'm just warning you that there's more to the job than telling patients to get plenty of rest and drink orange juice."

Daniel was the only one of my siblings who seemed to support my career goals. Simon and Lenora made countless jokes at my expense.

"I've been studying medical terminology," Lenora announced one day.

"Really?" Simon paused his whittling.

"Yes! Tell me something you might hear at a hospital, and I'll tell you what it means in layman's terms."

Simon thought a moment. "'The doctor will be with you shortly.'"

"'I hope you haven't made any plans for the next seven hours,'" Lenora replied.

My brother chuckled. "'It will all be over in a minute.'"

"'You'll be sore for the next three years.'"

"'This might sting a little.'"

"'This will give you nightmares for the rest of your life.'"

"'Everything's going to be alright.'"

"'Five shillings says you're dead within the next two minutes.'"

"'You're recovering nicely.'"

"'Let's discuss your medical bill.'"

"'This won't hurt a bit.'"

"'By the time you finish screaming, you'll be too hoarse to speak for the next month.'"

Simon laughed again and resumed whittling.


	2. An Unusual Story

**An Unusual Story**

Simon and Lenora always tried to get me to do their homework for them. I tried explaining that since I was younger than they were, I didn't know as much academically, but they wouldn't listen. Whenever I was tricked into doing their assignments, Daniel would help me.

"They'll be sorry when the antiseptic you give them turns out to be salted lemon juice," he would joke.

"But that would make me just like them," I argued.

Daniel put his hand on my shoulder. "True enough, David. You've got a level head. Your future patients will appreciate that."

Corine and Meta were usually kind to me, as long as I remembered to play games with them and read stories. I didn't mind, especially when I remembered how Daniel always found ways to make my life even happier. My older siblings, on the other hand, weren't always so patient.

"Weed!" Meta once begged, climbing onto Simon's lap.

"I'm not reading to you," Simon responded.

"Pweed?"

"You can say 'please' all you want. I'm still not reading."

Meta turned to me. "Ty-mun not weed! You weed?"

"Of course I'll read to you if Simon won't," I answered. "What story would you like?"

She handed me a book that was nearly larger than she was.

"Gwown-up weed!"

I didn't have the heart to tell her that even adults don't typically read 3843-page reference novels from cover to cover.

"Why do you want to read a book that adults would like?" I queried.

"I be 'mart! You weed a wot; you 'mart!"

She had a point. Historically speaking, many smart mice have been avid readers.

Opening the book, I began making up my own story. "Once upon a time, there was a lovely princess…"

"Who got shanghaied and taken to a remote island to be sacrificed to a volcano!" Lenora put in.

I glared at her. "Do you mind?!"

She smirked. "I just wanted to hear the story too."

Turning about fifty pages in the novel, I continued, "One day, the princess was out for her morning walk, when…"

"The Big Bad Rat kidnapped her!" finished Simon. "They had to call in every sleuth in the city."

I sighed. "Not everything is a detective story, Simon. I personally would never wish to have anything to do with an investigator."

"Mustn't sneer," Daniel gently reminded me. "I wish you may never come to harm, David, but the day may come when you owe a detective your life."

"Then you'll have to save his!" laughed Simon. "It'll be like 'Androcles and the Cat.'"

"Who Andow-kees?" Meta inquired.

"Androcles was a mouse who had to work for someone he hated," Daniel began. "One day, he ran away, and he found a cat who had broken glass stuck in its paw. Instead of eating him, the cat held out the injured paw, as if begging for help, and Androcles removed the glass. Later in life, Androcles was falsely accused of a crime and sentenced to be eaten by the first cat that came down the street, which turned out to be none other than the cat he had helped all those months ago, and…"

"The cat ate him anyway because cats are ungrateful creatures, and that's what they do!" Lenora concluded.

Meta was obviously deep in thought. "David gwow up, him he'p a cat?"

"Of course not, Meta," I replied. "When I grow up, all the patients I help will be mice."

"What if a cat had a sore throat, David?" asked Simon.

Lenora lightly smacked his arm to congratulate his joke.

"Would you make the cat open its mouth and say, 'Yum!'?" Simon continued to joke.

"When I grow up, I'll be a professional. I'll know what to do in any given situation," I answered.

Simon laughed. "That's not what 'professional' means, David. It just means you know enough vocabulary to fool others into believing you're intelligent."


	3. School Days

**School Days**

Corine nervously clasped her hands together as she stared at the breakfast on her plate.

"What's troubling you?" I asked.

"It's my first day of school, David," she explained.

"Oh, that's nothing to worry about," I assured her. "The teacher will be happy to help you if you need anything."

"What if the other children don't like me?"

"No matter who you are, not everyone in the world will like you," I began. "The thing to do is just be yourself. Others will respect you for who you are, and if they don't, then they simply aren't worth your time."

"What if I say the wrong answer when the teacher asks me a question in class?"

"We all make mistakes, but we can't let that stop us."

"Were you scared when it was your first day of school?"

"Yes, but then I realized I had no reason to be."

My younger sister took my hand. "Thanks, David."

I smiled. "You're welcome, Corine."

"Meta is so lucky!" Lenora sighed. "She's not old enough to go to school yet."

"School isn't so bad." Simon grinned. "It's a great place to meet girls!"

My older sister crossed her arms. "From what Mother says, you've got at least one more year, maybe two, before you start worrying about meeting the opposite gender."

"Well, you never will!" he retorted. "Who would ever want someone like you?"

She scoffed. "I'm too young and beautiful to give my hand in marriage!"

Simon turned to Daniel. "Do you know any girls?"

"The way I see it, if I am intended to marry, I shall meet the woman of my dreams when the time is right. There's no sense in rushing things," Daniel replied.

I wasn't exactly the most popular student in class. Although I was fairly studious, it was obvious that I didn't have a future as a renowned philosopher or the next great inventor. During breaks between classes, I sometimes joined the other children for games, but I much preferred sitting under a tree, reading adventure novels.


	4. Wit

**Wit**

Lenora smirked most of the day on New Year's Eve that year.

"Time for the yearly contest!" Simon announced rhetorically.

I detested the contest for who could stay awake the longest. The first one to fall asleep always fell victim to some sort of prank. Since Meta and Corine were too young to try staying up until midnight, I usually had the displeasure of being the first of the contest to doze off.

"I say we cover his face with honey and flour!" Lenora exclaimed.

"Let's demolish his perfectly organized room!" added Simon.

"Ever hear about treating others the way you wish to be treated?" Daniel inquired.

"But that's not any fun!" my sister protested.

It was a miserable day for me. I just knew their minds were busy with mischievous plans that would be put into action as soon as I fell asleep that evening.

Feeling Daniel's hand on my shoulder, I looked up.

"Follow me, David."

I nodded and walked with him to his room.

"Do you know what the most powerful thing on earth is, David?"

I shook my head.

"It's knowledge. There are many forms of knowledge. Intelligence is used by scientists to discover how the world around us works. Intellect is used by professors to educate students. Wisdom is used by philosophers to understand life's great mysteries. Creativity is used by authors and inventors to make great works. Critical thinking is used by the police force to capture felons. Common sense is used by us all to keep from placing ourselves in harm."

"Where's this conversation going, Daniel?"

My brother smiled. "Today I'm going to teach you about a new form of knowledge." He began taking books from his shelf.

"What kind of knowledge is this?"

"Wit." He sat on the bed and patted a place beside him to indicate that I was also to sit down. "Imagine that someone picks a fight with a rodent three times his size. What happens to that mouse?"

"Anything the larger rodent wants to happen to him," I replied, taking a seat.

"Death?"

"Easily."

"Remember this, David. Never get into a fight if the odds are against you. In the rare event you do survive, you'll be injured so badly that you'll welcome death rather than fear it."

I frowned. "Why are you telling me this?"

"One day, you may have a patient that was the victim of such a fight. However, imagine if the smaller rodent outwits his enemy instead of foolishly trying unsuccessfully to outfight him."

"He might have a chance."

"You see, wit is a powerful thing, and you're going to need some if you're going to keep from ending up as an object of ridicule. Many mice have made complete fools of themselves by losing their wits. Today you are going to use wits to avoid becoming a joke for Lenora and Simon."

"How?"

"Read these books. I guarantee you won't fall asleep."

The books were all horror stories describing vampire gerbils, ghostly hamsters, and chinchillas that turned into cats every time there was a full moon. (I think the proper term for such creatures is "werecats," but as I generally prefer other genres of literature, I'm not entirely sure.) There was even a story about a rat who was a proper gentleman by day but a deadly monster by night.

"What are you reading?" Lenora demanded.

"Nothing that would interest you," Daniel answered for me. "He's reading scientific textbooks."

Simon stared at the cover of the book I was reading. "_Count Catula_?! Oh yeah! That sounds extremely scientific! David's going to be an expert in _Night of the Living Lizards_ and _Dr. Gerbil and Mr. Hamster_!"

When the hour grew late, Daniel brought Simon and Lenora some tea.

"I'm feeling tired all of a sudden." Simon yawned.

"We mustn't!" exclaimed Lenora. "You know what happens to the first to fall asleep!"

I, on the other hand, wasn't feeling the least bit drowsy. After all those horror stories, I felt I would never sleep again.

My older siblings drifted off to sleep just before Big Ben began tolling the midnight hour.

"Happy New Year, David." Daniel's smile was almost too broad for his face. "You finally made it. You're awake, but your tormentors are sleeping. What revenge will you have?"

Oh, it was so tempting! I wanted nothing more than to do to them what they had done to me every year when I had been the first to fall asleep on New Year's Eve. My mind eagerly raced through plan after plan. Then I realized what I had to do, even if it wasn't the most fun option.

Raising my right paw as if in a solemn promise, I sighed glumly. "Above all, do no harm."

My brother lightly squeezed my shoulder. "Well spoken, Dr. Dawson."

I smiled at what he had called me.

"You are a true gentleman." He grinned mischievously. "But I'm not!"

"What about what you were saying earlier about treating others the way we wish to be treated? Isn't this a double standard?"

Daniel continued to smile. "Well, I guess I'll just have to be an attorney when I grow up."

"Was there something in that tea you gave them?" I asked.

"This goes back to what I was telling you about wit. If you're in a situation where you're likely to meet opposition, _never_ drink what someone offers you. It happens in bars sometimes. Unwelcome patrons are given tampered liquor, and when the drugs take effect, the hapless victim is…" He cleared his throat. "Well, that's one of those talks we'll have when you're a little older."

"So you did put something in their tea to make them drowsy?"

"Tea to make them drowsy, books to keep you awake…" He shrugged. "It works."

When Simon and Lenora woke up the next morning and realized they had been the first ones to fall asleep, they decided to end their tradition of tormenting all who slept before midnight on New Year's Eve. I never had to deal with that form of torture again.


	5. Ratigan's Final Victim

**Ratigan's Final Victim**

His facial expression is vacant as he stares at the portrait above his fireplace, but he is unable to hide the pain in his eyes. Poor chap! The violin music pauses, and his gaze wanders to the fire.

"Are you feeling better, Basil?" I query.

He doesn't answer, and I begin to worry about him. This morning he upbraided me for bandaging his wounds last night after he had gone into shock, and when he discovered the sutures I had administered, he was livid. Now he sits in silence.

After a long pause, he finally answers. "Last night after I fell from the clock tower, I insisted that I was unscathed. I have erred, for now I know I am wounded deeply, and my injuries shall never heal!" He sighs. "Even you cannot bandage a torn heart or mend a crushed spirit!"

"What's troubling you?" I inquire gently. "You look as though you've lost your best friend."

He sighs again. "Did your best friend ever make innumerable attempts on your life before losing his own? The last time you and your companion conversed, did your dialogue conclude with 'Farewell until next time, old chap,' or were his final words to you 'There's no escape this time!'?"

Mrs. Judson whispers to me, "Mr. Basil and the villainous rat were rather close as children. When Ratigan turned criminal, Mr. Basil vowed never again to trust anyone."

"I know not why I mourn now," Basil comments. "My friend perished years ago." He places a hand on his back. "Felicia's most recent victim was clearly my enemy."

"I thought the scoundrel died when he fell from the clock tower," I remark.

"He survived the fall, although I'm not quite sure how he managed. There's a possibility I may still have solved the mystery, but the cat destroyed the evidence!"

"What makes you think she ate him?"

"Elementary," he replies without giving explanation.

Recalling the grief I felt when Daniel passed away, I try to find words of comfort for Basil, but I can think of nothing.

Olivia climbs into his lap and rests her head on his shoulder. "Don't be sad, Mr. Basil."

"Why did he insist on continuing his life of crime?" the detective asks rhetorically. "If only he had ceased his felonies earlier in his career, I could have seen him acquitted!"

"It's not your fault," Flaversham responds. "You did what you had to do. He chose his own lifestyle, and if it's as you say and he survived the fall only to be executed the same way he murdered others, then he brought about his own demise. You had no part in it."

"The best way to honor his memory would be to enjoy life," I put in. "Those who leave us behind would not have us grieving forever. They would want us to live our own lives to the fullest."

Finally, a trace of a smile returns to the investigator's face. "Perhaps you're right, both of you." He pulls a bell from his pocket, gently setting Olivia down and walking to the mantel. "_Requiescat in pace._"

Seeing the article that Mrs. Judson saved from this morning's newspaper, I attempt to change the subject. "To be thanked by the Queen! Oh, how very thrilling! Eh, Basil?"

He sets the bell on the mantel. "All in a day's work, Doctor."

At last! He is feeling better! Now he is once more the legendary Basil of Baker Street, the great mouse detective.

The Flavershams take their leave. I too must be on my way. Although I have relished the adventure of assisting Basil with the case, I have yet to find a place to stay, not to mention I'm only too eager to be finished with the world of drunken rabbles and murderous fiends. Eve Titus as my witness, I shall never again allow myself to become involved in detective work!

Hold that thought. Someone's at the door. Besides, I'm already on my way out, so it would only be right for me to greet Basil's next visitor. Besides, it's not as if this will drastically change my life in any manner.


End file.
